Although considerable effort and expense have been put forth in an effort to control food borne pathogenic microorganisms, there nevertheless exist significant safety problems in the supply of packaged food. For example, numerous outbreaks of food poisoning brought about by foodstuffs contaminated with strains of the E. coli, Campylobacter, Listeria, Cyclospora and Salmonella microorganisms have caused illness and even death, not to mention a tremendous loss of revenue for food producers. These and other microorganisms can inadvertently taint food, even when reasonably careful food handling procedures are followed. The possibility of accidental contamination, for example by temperature abuse, in and of itself, is enough to warrant incorporation of safe and effective biological material diagnosis and detection procedures. Further complicating the situation is the very real possibility that a terrorist organization might target either the food or water supply of a municipality or even a nation itself, by attempting to include a pathogenic microorganism or toxic contaminant capable of causing widespread illness or even death. If, by accident or design, the food supply of a particular population were to be contaminated, it is not only imperative that the population be alerted to the contamination, but it is further necessary that the particular contaminant be quickly and precisely pinpointed so that appropriate countermeasures may be taken.
Thus, if it were possible to readily substitute standard packaging materials with a flexible material capable of 1) quickly and easily detecting the presence, and 2) indicating the particular identity of a variety of pathogenic biological materials, a long felt need would be satisfied.